Green building leading the way in Copenhagen

This summer, as hundreds of city dweller’s flocked to sun themselves on Svanemøllen beach in the northern district of Copenhagen, they would have undoubtly cycled past a new and impressive addition to the city’s landscape. Located in Copenhagen’s free port, just south of the impressive North Harbour ‘Nordhavn’ developments, the new ‘UN City’ complex was officially opened this July under a rapture of awards and international praise.

UN City Building Photo: Adam Mørk

This praise is well deserved with Danish architects 3XN
designing an ecofriendly, LEED platinum accredited, Danish Energy
class 1 building. Shaped as an 8 point star, referring to the UN's
message of reaching out to all corners of the world, this building
will house 8 UN agencies previously based on separate locations;
these include,UN development programme (UNDP),the UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN
Environmental programme (UNEP). Not only does this building promote
green technologies but it is designed to craft a new way of
working. The flexible office space encourages cross departmental
interaction and collaboration, fostering positive dialogues, higher
working efficiency and productivity and enhanced employee
welfare.

UN City
Building Photo: Adam Mørk

A model for further city development

Globally, buildings account for 40% of energy use and almost a
third of all greenhouse gas emissions. The building sector is
undoubtedly an energy intensive sector with buildings using vast
amounts of energy and resources in both construction and operation
phases. The UN city building can act as a model for building
developments not only in Copenhagen, which is attempting to reduce
emissions from buildings in line with its 'CO2 neutral by 2025'
goal, but throughout the world where proven energy efficient and
renewable energy technologies are often overlooked for financial
and planning reasons.

The UN city building boasts a number of cutting edge features.
The façade is created from perforated aluminum shutters that
regulate solar shading without interfering with views out across
the harbor waters. These shutters can be regulated by employees who
can dictate the amount of sunlight entering their office, enabling
a shaded and cool working environment.

The roof is covered with a reflective and recyclable organic
material which acts to reflect sunlight, reducing the buildings
solar warming. In addition the roof holds, 1,400 solar panels,
which can generate 297,000kWh/year of electricity, helping to
reduce the buildings demand from the grid. The building will use no
more than 50kWh per square meter per annum.

UN City Building
Photo: Adam Mørk

Seawater is used as a cooling system, eliminating the need for
electricity to run air conditioners. The building uses a rainwater
collection system that can capture 3 million liters of rainwater
annually, thereby reducing water from the mains by up to 60%. Water
is also saved through new designs in tap aerators, helping to
reduce water flow and usage.

In keeping with Copenhagen's strong bicycling culture, the UN
City building has available 680 bicycle parking spaces, helping to
encourage its employees to get to work on two wheels.

All these measures mean the building will reduce its predicted
energy consumption by 55%. This has led to the building being
awarded the European Commission's Green building award for new
buildings in 2012.

Soon to be home to 1.200 employees, the UN City building is a
welcome ecofriendly addition to Copenhagen's North shore. With the
green development area of Nordhavn under phased construction until
2050, this area is well on the way to becoming a leading example of
how buildings can contribute to a more efficient and sustainable
city environment.

Meet leading Danish and international architects and professionals, create potential networks and acquire important knowledge about the architectural, construction and innovative industries though seminars, publications and case studies.

THE BEST VIEW OVER COPENHAGEN HARBOUR

UNIQUE LOCATION FOR MEETINGS AND
CONFERENCES

We provide professional conference facilities and you will have the
opportunity to visit our changing exhibitions, and enjoy a light
lunch or a cup of coffee and a cake in our café on the first
floor.

TEACHING ARCHITECTURE

We offer courses for different age groups in connection with
Danish Architecture Centre's temporary exhibitions. The activities
are suited to varying target groups depending on the type of
exhibition and wherever possible the courses include hands-on
activities for children. The courses can also be conducted in
English.